Also known as Four From Planet 5, this is a science fiction novella by Murray Leinster that first appeared in Amazing Science Fiction Stories in 1959.

Four alien children who are telepaths come to earth. The world's military, the mafia, and most of the population want them dead. After all, the children can read our minds and the secrets they contain.

Are you sure that's public domain? Anything published in the U.S. in 1959 would have been in its first period of copyright (28 years) when the copyright laws were rewritten in 1978 to give such works a single copyright period of 75 years, which was subsequently extended to 95 years under the Sonny Bono act.

The only way such a story would be public domain, at least in the U.S. would be if the copyright holder specifically placed it in the public domain.

Are you sure that's public domain? Anything published in the U.S. in 1959 would have been in its first period of copyright (28 years) when the copyright laws were rewritten in 1978 to give such works a single copyright period of 75 years, which was subsequently extended to 95 years under the Sonny Bono act.

The only way such a story would be public domain, at least in the U.S. would be if the copyright holder specifically placed it in the public domain.

That's probabily preferring to the book version of the work, rather than the magazine version, which carries a separate copyright. The magazine copyright was not renewed (as used to be required) in the US, hence that version of it is now in the public domain the US. However, most country's copyrights don't work like that, but simply so many years after the author's death, hence this should not be downloaded by people who live in such a country (which, in effect, means virtually everyone outside the US).

That's probabily preferring to the book version of the work, rather than the magazine version, which carries a separate copyright. The magazine copyright was not renewed (as used to be required) in the US, hence that version of it is now in the public domain the US. However, most country's copyrights don't work like that, but simply so many years after the author's death, hence this should not be downloaded by people who live in such a country (which, in effect, means virtually everyone outside the US).

Ican't wait till the nasty men
kick my door down
for downloading this.
good book by the way